After returning from two weeks in Yellowstone National Park and determining that I was in the wrong occupation, I came back to work waiting for a sign from Spirit that would let me know where to go from here to get out of the office and back to nature. Two days after I returned I was released from employment. It was quite a shock until I realized that I had put things in motion and had asked for the very sign that I was receiving. Now I'm waiting for a sign that will put me in the right occupation.

This is really two very different questions.

First, how do I respond to others suffering. I have discovered, and have been told, I am too empathetic. I don't mean sympathetic; I mean empathetic. When I see (or feel) others suffer it becomes my own suffering and this is not a good thing for me. I've learned it is good to be sympathetic towards the needs of others and this can be accomplished if we protect ourselves continually. This allows us to be aware of the humanness in another and yet remain focused as our own sense of person. The ideal situation is to feel compassion toward the suffering of others.

I believe we are all connected. We are all ONE and as such it can be difficult for one of us to hurt without others also experiencing the hurt. However it can be difficult to get anything accomplished in the human world if we all go around feeling hurt and suffering.

Now, how do I respond to suffering in myself. I try (and yes, I did say try because it's constant work) not to see it as suffering. I realize that 1) I may have asked for this suffering in some form or fashion. For example, I am now unemployed and the way it happened has left me sometimes feeling like I was wronged which might lead to suffering. When this begins to happen I understand that it is the ego trying to get me to feel as though I was wronged and I quiet the ego by remembering that it was not a good fit for either of us and that I am much better off now that I am free to follow the path that Spirit has intended for me. I am now able to serve in another capacity that is better suited for myself and humankind.

As for physical pain suffering...it's how we choose to think about it. It's all energy and how much energy do you want to spend or focus on what you believe to be pain and suffering? I make the choice every day, every hour, every minute. Do I choose suffering? No. I choose NOT.

Is this a trick question?

PEACE ON EARTH!!!

AND SO IT IS!

PEACE MY FRIENDS,

vl

Pattern?

A consistent, characteristic form, style, or method, as:

1. A composite of traits or features characteristic of an individual or a group: one's pattern of behavior.
2. Form and style in an artistic work or body of artistic works.

I'm familiar with the words "routine" and "ritual" but "pattern." Let me see...

Pattern? Is that like modus operandi? do you ask it in the sense of a verb or a noun?

What pattern has "characterized" my life recently?

So do you ask about traits, qualitites or peculiarities?

I suppose these patterns can be positive or negative?

Recently? How do you define recently?

Do you mean today?; this past week?; this past month?; or any time within the past year?

What pattern has characterized my life recently?

By now it should be clear that I don't care for patterns much. I feel too confined in the box you have set before me.

I am of the Earth and I am most comfortable wandering around with my toes in the soil. (I also like to wiggle them in the water periodically). Sometimes I fly. I'm never in one spot for long.

Above all...I hate predictability in myself. I prefer the unknown, unexplored and unseen.

Are you serious?

Some of these questions just crack me up.

Happiness is relative. The word "happiness" is a noun meaning roughly: "a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy." What makes a person feel contentment or intense joy can most certainly vary from one unique individual to the next.

What is happiness? I suppose you keep these questions very generic in order to solicit a wide range of possible responses. By leaving them open for interpretation you are likely to get just that.

Right now, in this moment, happiness to me is the cool air coming in the window, my good health, this delicious cup of coffee before me, the sounds of the birds in the trees, a comfortable chair to work in and a wonderful iMac to work with.

Right now, in this moment, I find happiness in using my mind to contemplate this question.